The magic shortbow is the second most powerful shortbow available to free players. The magic shortbow requires a Ranged level of 50 or higher to wield. The attack range of the magic shortbow is 7 spaces. It is one of the best bows for simple training that F2P players can wield, second only to the gravite shortbow, although the latter degrades over time.

This is the most frequently used bow by middle to high level rangers for training (especially in F2P) due to its damage and accuracy bonuses, along with its decent speed and use by many well-known player killers. The price and availability of magic shortbows also contributes to their popularity.

It was a common player killing weapon until the Wilderness update in December 2007, but regained much of its former popularity with the release of PVP worlds. In 2011, an update removed the PvP worlds and the Wilderness became an area for dangerous player killing once more. Nevertheless, magic shortbows failed to regain their former popularity, until the release of the Evolution of Combat, which made them available to free-to-play, where they are currently one of the most commonly used player killing weapons.

The magic shortbow has a special attack called Snap-Shot (not to be confused with the ability Snap Shot) which attacks twice with reduced accuracy. It uses 55% adrenaline. This special attack is only usable on members servers - the special attack will not work on free worlds.

When special attacks were first released on 14 June2004, the special attack used less than 50% of special attack energy, allowing players to use two special attacks in a row. It was not changed to use 55% of special attack energy until the update Wilderness Capes, and Changes on 22 February2005.

The magic shortbow used to be the fastest firing bow in RuneScape when used with the rapid setting. However, after the Evolution of Combat update, all shortbows now always fire at the same speed due to the modification of the combat styles system.